Mahatma Gandhi, an activist for peace, once said “Happiness is when what you think, and what you do, are in perfect harmony.” We all know that happiness is good for the soul and we all want to achieve happiness. But why? Many scientists have found that psychological and physical well-being go hand in hand.

In a 2012, over 200 studies have proved that living a positive and happy life reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. Although being happy isn’t the only key to a healthy lifestyle, it can certainly make a difference. People who are in a happy state of mind often make healthier and more optimistic decisions, such as eating healthy, exercising, and achieving their goals.

 Where does happiness come from, though? How does it happen? Well, obviously one’s environment is a key attribute to mood. Surrounding one’s self with negative people and other negative vibes can influence one’s mood. A person can change his or her negativity simply by surrounding himself with happier and more positive aspects of life.

Although environment and attitude strongly influence one’s well-being, sometimes it’s all in your genes. There have been studies that show that identical twins have the same levels of happiness more often than fraternal twins do. Nancy Seal, a psychologist at California State University said,  “If you have happy parents and happy children, I think that people usually assume that the children are modeling the parents, but that’s not really so. You need to make the point that parents pass on both genes and environments.”

Whether one chooses to promote happiness in his life through environment, attitude, or genetics, it’s an important change that will improve one’s life and well-being. Happiness is not only good for your mind, it’s good for your body so don’t forget to smile.